Multiverse Reborn: Batwoman
by Lauriverfanboy1
Summary: Part Four of Multiverse Reborn Saga. My name is Kate Kane. This really is not the story I thought I'd be telling. After watching my universe literally burn down, I found myself waking up in this strange new one. I don't understand much of what's happened, except that I've been given a chance to turn my failures into successes. I am Batwoman. Kate/Sophie Pairing.
1. Chapter 1

Kate was immensely sore when she came to after that huge explosion that came after she helped attack the anti-monitor.

"What happened?" Kate asked.

"You both failed and succeeded in your goal." Novu said, getting Kate's attention.

"What are you talking about. The five paragons as you called us, we attacked him." Kate said.

"Indeed you did. You subdued him long enough for me to take back my powers, along with his own, killing Mobius. However, doing so triggered his failsafe, a final antimatter wave the eliminated what remained of the multiverse." Novu said.

"Okay so that would be the part where we failed, but now how did we succeed?" Kate asked.

"Because, with the powers I gained from killing my opposite, I was able to create a new multiverse in place of the old one. You succeeded by making sure that the Anti-Monitor could not exist to threaten it." Novu said.

"So, what happens?" Kate asked.

"Before the blast, I was able to rescue you and the other four paragons and bring you to my realm to recover from it while the new multiverse evolved. Now that it has, I intend to send the paragons into it to ensure that it does not fall." Novu said.

"Where are the other paragons?" Kate asked.

"Well Ms. Lance is behind you. She is still recovering from the blast. As for Mr. Queen, Mr. Allen and Ms. Zor-El, I have already sent them into the new multiverse. Now it is your turn." Novu said.

"I don't understand." Kate said.

"Consider this a reward for completing the job, just not in the way you expected. You will have the same chance that others have been given. You can correct your mistakes." Novu said.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"When you enter this reality, you will find that your counterpart there was born 5 years earlier than you originally were. This will allow you to better adapt to your new timeline, since when you arrive, you will be at the same point you were at when you first began your crusade, which is fortunate, since the day I am sending you to is the day Oliver Queen returned home Lian Yu." Novu said.

"So, what you're saying is that everything I went through still happened, just five years earlier." Kate said.

"Indeed. Including your cousin Bruce disappearing from Gotham." Novu said.

"Of course he has. I wish I knew what caused Bruce to leave Gotham in the first place. He left our home to rot." Kate said.

"That I cannot say." Novu said.

"But anyways, you're saying I have a chance to basically have a do over. Correct my mistakes?" Kate asked.

"Indeed. Those you love most will be restored to you and since I am going to be sending you to the new Earth one with your current memories intact, you can prevent the same tragedies from happening again. However, I will be giving you the memories of your counterpart on Earth One as well to ensure that you can blend in to your new surroundings without arousing suspicion from those closest to you." Novu said.

"I'm ready." Kate said.

"Very well. I wish you the best of luck Ms. Kane." Novu said as he gave Kate her counterparts memories, causing her to pass out before he waved his hand and sent her to the new earth one.

"Only one more to go." Novu said as he looked at Sara's unconscious form and waited for her to awaken.


	2. Chapter 2

After Kate had woken up at her old arctic survival retreat, she'd decided to cut it short again, this time without a phone call from Mary telling her that Sophie had been kidnapped, and returned to Gotham.

However, when she returned to Gotham, Kate still couldn't believe how far the city had fallen since Batman left. Kate made a mental note to beat the crap out of Bruce the next time she saw him. She still had no idea why her Bruce had left Gotham 3 years ago, but he clearly hadn't taken the effect his absence would have on Gotham when he left.

As she drove into the more impoverished parts of Gotham, she was reminded of just how little good the Crows truly did for the city. They only protected the wealthy and not the people who really needed it, they weren't really helping Gotham, all they were doing was further dividing the city instead of helping it.

When she arrived at Crows HQ, she smiled at the sight of her father, out of prison and back where he belonged. Barking orders at the crows.

Anyways, as she walked towards his office, she bumped into someone.

"Kate." Sophie said.

"Hey Sophie." Kate said a little spitefully, since she still hadn't gotten over her anger at Sophie for had happened at Point Rock and her counterpart's memories just made her angry all over again.

"What are you doing here?" Sophie asked.

"I'm just here to talk to my dad." Kate said as she walked right past her.

"Kate, can we please talk." Sophie asked as she followed her.

"I don't think so Sophie. You said everything you needed to say that day at Point Rock." Kate said.

"Kate, please, let me explain." Sophie said.

"There's nothing to explain. You decided that graduating that close minded academy was more important than your integrity or your feelings." Kate said without looking back at her as she entered her father's office.

"Kate, what are you doing here?" Jacob asked.

"Hello to you to dad." Kate said.

"No, I mean of course it's good to see you, but aren't you supposed to still be training?" Jacob asked.

"For what, a job we both know you're never actually going to offer me?" Kate asked.

"Kate." Jacob said.

"No dad, we both know that you're not going to give me a job with the Crows. And to be honest, I'm not sure that I want one anyways." Kate said.

"What?" Jacob asked.

"Dad, the Crows only protect people who can afford it and coincidentally, the only people who can afford it are the one percenters. Not the people who actually need that kind of protection. Batman might've been a jackass, but at least he helped everyone in Gotham, regardless of what tax bracket they're in." Kate said.

"You're siding with Batman." Jacob asked.

"While I was training, I had a lot of time to think and I realized that Batman wasn't responsible for what happened to mom and Beth." Kate said, deciding to get this conversation over with now.

"Batman brought out all the crazies in Gotham. If it weren't for him there wouldn't have been a Joker and there wouldn't have been an accident." Jacob said.

"And what about all the other people Batman saved both before and after the accident. Hell, what about all the kids he saved that day. Do they suddenly not matter just because he couldn't save mom and Beth?" Kate demanded, taking him aback.

"No of course not. But." Jacob began, only to have Kate interrupt him again.

"No, you blame Batman for the accident because it's easier than blaming yourself for not saving Mom or searching harder for Beth. Instead you turned your attention on blaming Batman because it was easier. I get the feeling that he kept searching even after we stopped." Kate said.

"Kate. He could've done something." Jacob said.

"How, he's not Superman. He couldn't fly." Kate said as she walked out of the office, already planning on heading towards Wayne Enterprise.


	3. Chapter 3

When Kate arrived at Wayne Tower, she was immediately stopped by security.

"Excuse me ma'am, but what makes you think you can be here?" one of the guards asked.

"My name is Kate Kane. Sound familiar. It should, considering I'm your boss now." Kate said.

"Really?" one of the guards asked.

"Check the files to see who my cousin Bruce Wayne left in charge of his properties here before he left." Kate said as the guards took her into the security office and pulled up the files.

"She's telling the truth. She is the legal owner of this place." the guard said as they released her.

"Our apologies Ms. Kane." The head of security said.

"No problem. You guys are just doing your jobs and the fact that you didn't let me go just on my word is proof that you're doing a good job." Kate assured him.

"Is there anything else we can do for you?" the first guard asked.

"Not at the moment." Kate said as she headed up towards her office.

* * *

However, she was surprised to find someone else waiting in her office when she got there.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" Kate asked.

"Excuse me, your office?" Luke Fox asked.

"Yes. My name is Kate Kane, I'm Bruce Wayne's cousin and the acting owner of Wayne Enterprises in his absence." Kate said.

"Well I'm Luke Fox and I've been taking care of this building myself ever since Bruce left." Luke said.

"Well, I appreciate that, but now, can you please get out of my office?" Kate asked.

"You really expect me to believe that you're in charge of this place now?" Luke asked.

"I don't care what you believe, now get out." Kate said as she walked over to her aunt Martha's pearl necklace.

"You can't touch that." Luke said.

"Why? It's my aunt's?" Kate asked as she twisted the case and revealed the hidden elevator.

"Cool." Kate said as she stepped inside.

"No, you really don't need to go in there." Luke said as he tried to stop her.

"I already know who he is. Bruce Wayne and Batman disappearing at the same time, I put two and two together." Kate said and Luke sighed.

"Okay fine. But still, you can't go down there." Luke said.

"One thing Bruce and I have in common, we both hate people telling us what to do." Kate said as she pressed the button to take her down to the Batcave.

"Okay, I guess I'll meet you down there." Luke said, wondering how he was going to explain this to Bruce if he ever came back.

* * *

When Kate entered the Batcave, she grimaced when she saw her suit back to it's old Batman design.

"Okay, that is going to need some red." Kate said as she looked at the suit.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked.

"Gotham has been falling apart without the Bat. It needs that symbol to give it hope. Batman maybe gone, but maybe someone else can give the city hope again." Kate said.

"What, you mean you?" Luke asked.

"Yes, but you'll have to make some changes to the suit." Kate said.

"What kind of changes?" Luke asked.

"Well for starters, you need to make it fit a woman. Then, add some red to liven up the color. Plus, I want to make sure that people know that I'm not Batman." Kate said.

"I'll see what I can do, but are you sure that's something you really want to do. Once you put that suit on, you can't take that back." Luke said.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Bruce became Batman to play by his own rules. I think it's time I do the same. Gotham needs the Bat, I'll give them the Bat. Just not the one they were expecting." Kate said.

"I just want to make sure that you're sure, since I do not want to tell Bruce that his cousin died because I didn't stop her from trying to fill his shoes." Luke said.

"A reasonable concern, but I've spent five years training in survival and combat. If anyone can pick up where he left off, it's me." Kate said.

"Okay then, I'll start modifying the suit." Luke said.


	4. Chapter 4

"So, how long will it take for you to alter the suit?" Kate asked him.

"Why?" Luke asked.

"Because, as long as your altering it, I have some ideas for upgrades." Kate said, since she honestly wished she'd come up with them the first time she and Luke had modified her suit.

"Really, like what?" Luke asked curiously.

"Well, since we're adding some red to the suit, what if you made the bat symbol on the suit a red LED light?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, that could definitely help you freak people out." Luke said.

"Exactly. And I know the suit likely has night vision tech, but I feel like the LED thing would look cooler and help me with the entrances." Kate said.

"Wow, you really are Bruce's cousin. He was all about the drama to." Luke said.

"Runs in the family." Kate agreed.

"Anyways, making upgrades like that, will probably take at least a day." Luke said.

"Gotham's gone three years without a Bat, I guess it can go one more day." Kate said.

"Any other suggestions?" Luke asked.

"Only one other one, but it's one that will probably take a lot longer for you to crack." Kate said.

"Really, I'm listening." Luke said.

"I won't always have time to come back here to change into the suit, so it would be nice if there was a way I could keep it on me at all times." Kate said.

"You're not wrong. I'll see what I can do, but it will likely take me awhile to crack like you said." Luke said and Kate nodded, since while she needed to remember that even Cisco hadn't cracked it yet, at least at this point in time, though she was certain that Ray would soon.

"Well, work on the LED design and the other upgrades and modifications to the suit tonight and finish it tomorrow. I want Gotham to have a bat again by tomorrow night." Kate said.

"Copy that. I'll also recalibrate the batarangs from Bruce's arm length to yours." Luke said.

"Good call. I'm gonna head back up to my office so I can start turning this place into a real estate firm." Kate said.

"Really." Luke said.

"I know what you're thinking, but I want to buy rundown buildings outside the crows districts, keep the rents low and give them back to the community." Kate said.

"Do you even know anything about real estate?" Luke asked.

"I know enough." Kate assured him.

"Okay then. So, while Bruce was a billionaire playboy, you're going to be Joanna Gaines." Luke asked.

"More or less. I don't just need Gotham to trust me as the Bat, I need them to trust me as Kate Kane. This seems like the best way to do that." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"Not a bad idea." Luke admitted.

"Thanks. And you're going to be my assistant." Kate said.

"Associate." Luke said.

"To be determined later." Kate said.

"Fine." Luke agreed.

"That's what I thought. Now get to work on the suit." Kate said and Luke nodded.

* * *

After leaving Luke in the Batcave, Kate decided to check only member of her family she wasn't angry at right now.

And sure enough, she found Mary once again running an illegal clinic in the slums of Gotham.

"So, this is where the queen of Gotham's party scene spends her free time." Kate said with a smile.

"Kate, how'd you find me?" Mary asked.

"I know a guy who owes me a favor. I have to admit, it is nice to see a member of our family actually helping the people who need it." Kate said.

"So, you won't tell dad about this clinic?" Mary asked.

"Why would I sell out the only member of my family I'm not ashamed of." Kate said and Mary smiled as she hugged her stepsister.

"So, what brings you back to Gotham so soon?" Mary asked.

"I realized that a job with the Crows is not what I actually wanted anymore. I'm actually in the process of turning Wayne Tower into a real estate firm." Kate said.

"Really. I thought you hated Tommy Elliot. Never thought you'd want to be like him." Mary said.

"I'm not going to be like Tommy Elliot. I'm thinking low rent buildings from outside the crows districts, renovating them, making them fit for the everyday people in gotham. I could use your help with design." Kate said.

"Count me in." Mary agreed quickly and Kate smiled, since this time, she was not going to allow her relationship with Mary to be jeopardized because of how she felt about her other sister.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm surprised you aren't unpacking." Jacob said to his daughter the next morning.

"The reason why I haven't unpacked is because I'm planning on looking for my own place." Kate said.

"I can help you with that. We can find you a place safely in the Crows districts." Jacob said.

"I don't think so. I meant what I told you yesterday about the Crows. I want to help Gotham and that doesn't mean hiding in the crow's district, unless you want to expand it." Kate said, since she had two reasons for choosing to live outside the Crow's district. The first was that she knew her father would want to protect her, so she was forcing him to widen the Crows district to start protecting the people who really needed their protection. The second reason was because it would be easier for her to operate as Batwoman if she didn't have Crow's security watching her every move.

"Kate, I'm trying to keep you safe." Jacob said.

"You sent me away for five years to train. I can keep myself safe." Kate said.

"Kate, please." Jacob said.

"No. I'm planning on finding a place to live that won't come with a pocket crow." Kate said.

"Kate, why not live in a place that's protected by the crows?" Jacob asked.

"Because none of those areas are filled with people who actually need that kind of protection. You want me to live in the crows districts then widen it to include the parts of gotham that actually need it." Kate said.

"The crows are a business and a business needs revenue to function." Jacob said.

"So maybe you should consider using the money you get from protecting Gotham's elite and from your many benefactors like hamilton Dynamics to protect the rest of the city. Dad, I get that the crows are still a business, but can you honestly tell me that they're what you intended them to be. There's a reason that bat signal is still on after three years of no Batman. It's because the people of Gotham still have more faith in than they do the crows, since he helped people regardless of their tax bracket. Maybe if you did the same, they might consider being happy to turn the light off. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my own place to live." Kate said as she walked out of the apartment, leaving Jacob thinking about what she'd said.

* * *

"So, why exactly are you moving out of that penthouse." Luke asked Kate when she arrived at the office.

"My dad and I have several conflicting opinions and I'm not exactly the biggest fan of my stepmom right now. Honestly, the only member of my family I'm not annoyed with right now is my stepsister. I figured the best thing I can do is to find my own place. Only problem is that one of my requirements is that I want a place outside the Crow's district." Kate said.

"Which limits your options, since even though you're not a rich snob, you were still raised in a certain lifestyle." Luke said.

"Yeah. I try not to seem like a spoiled brat, but aside from the whole lifestyle thing, it would raise too much suspicion if Kate Kane moved into just a normal apartment, which could bring press or robbers who could find out my real identity." Kate said.

"Well, there might actually be a place that meets all your requirements." Luke said.

"Really where?" Kate asked.

"The only place in Gotham that even criminals don't go near anymore." Luke said.

"Where?" Kate asked again.

"Wayne Manor. It's been abandoned ever since Bruce left Gotham and I can't imagine him minding you ransacking his place like you did his office since it's not like he's using it anymore." Luke said and Kate sighed.

"Not a bad idea. I did love spending weekends there when I was a kid and if I know Bruce, I'm sure he's got it rigged with defenses to keep out unwanted guests. And if for some reason he didn't, then we will." Kate said.

"No need to worry about that. Even before he became Batman, Bruce had the manor upgraded with the best defense tech his company ever made." Luke said.

"Of course he'd hog the best toys for himself." Kate said fondly.

"True, but it's also to protect the cache of bat tech he kept stored underneath the manor to keep it safe. I'm authorized to be there and I'm guessing you still are, but we should probably make sure before you start moving in." Luke said.

"Yeah. Especially since I want to access this vault under the manor and see what kind of tech Bruce kept there." Kate said and Luke smiled.

"Speaking of, I finished making the upgrades to suit, so you want to take it out for a spin tonight." Luke asked.

"Absolutely. But first, I need to find the right target." Kate said.

"Yeah, I think I already it thanks to Vesper Fairchild." Luke said as he turned on Vesper's broadcast.

_"Okay gotham, the crows strike out again in their pursuit of the mysterious new burglar, Magpie. Whoever this mystery bird is, she certainly seems to be several steps ahead of everyone else. So now the question remains, where will she strike next." _Vesper's voice said.

"Okay then, Magpie. Time to make my debut in Gotham by doing something the Crows can't." Kate said.

"You are way too eager to make a fool out of your dad's company aren't you?" Luke asked, amused.

"Yep." Kate said, not even denying it, right as the windows behind her shattered and Magpie flew in.

"Shiny." she said, looking right at Martha Wayne's necklace.

"Not gonna happen bird breath." Kate said as she fought back against Magpie, stealing one of her grenades in the process.

"Kate." Luke warned as Magpie managed to get the better of her and stole the necklace before firing a grappling hook and zipping out of the building.

"No." Kate said, wondering how Magpie had gotten the drop on her, but decided to instead focus on finding her and the necklace.

"You okay?" Luke asked her.

"Better then Magpie will be. Let's get downstairs to analyze this." Kate said as she held up the grenade.

"Copy that." Luke agreed as they headed down to the Batcave.


	6. Chapter 6

Kate was pissed off that Magpie had not only managed to steal the necklace again, but also that she'd gotten the drop on her.

"Please tell me that Bruce put a GPS tracker in that necklace after he got it back?" Kate asked Luke.

"Considering the fact that he spent years tracking it down in underground and markets and spent a billion dollars at an auction to buy it back, yeah he did. I'm pulling it up now." Luke assured her.

"Good. His mom, my aunt, was killed for that necklace. I know that Bruce would never forgive himself if something happened to it and neither will I. We need to find it. Preferably before Bruce suddenly decides he made a mistake and comes back to find it missing." Kate said as they both shuddered at the thought.

"Crap." Luke said when he pulled up the computers and saw nothing come up.

"Let me guess, Magpie found and disabled the tracker." Kate said.

"Yep. Now this grenade you pulled off her is our only lead to find her." Luke said and while Kate wanted to say she knew where Magpie was hiding, she wasn't sure if it was the same place as it was before.

"Also try using eagle cams to search the city for her." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"Good idea. Look for a bird instead of a person." Luke agreed as he got to work.

"Let me know what you come up with. But maybe we should also consider upgrading the tower's security." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"Let's focus on tracking down Magpie and getting that necklace back first." Luke said and Kate nodded.

"Agreed. Start searching for Magpie around high security targets like the Gotham Museum, lots of shiny and expensive objects there for her to steal." Kate said and Luke nodded as he hacked into the Gotham PD surveillance system.

"Let me know if you find anything. Is the suit ready?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, but why not wait until nightfall to put it on?" Luke asked.

"Because I want people to know that the Bat is back and not hiding in the shadows." Kate said.

"I guess that makes sense, but still, try to avoid being seen until either you see Magpie or until nightfalls." Luke said.

"Copy that." Kate said as she moved to suit up.

* * *

"I've missed this." Kate said to herself as she stood on a rooftop overlooking the Gotham Museum, once again donning the Batwoman suit.

"What was that?" Luke asked.

"Nothing. You did remember to recalibrate the batarangs to my arm length right?" Kate asked, since she did not need another repeat of what happened the first time she tried to take down Magpie.

"Don't worry, I did." Luke said.

"Good." Kate said as she continued standing sentry over the museum.

* * *

Like Luke predicted, it wasn't until nightfall that Magpie finally made her move.

"Luke, I've got eyes on Magpie." Kate said.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Luke asked and Kate smiled.

"Just wanted to let you know before I go in. I'm nice like that." Kate said and she could hear Luke chuckle on the other end of the comms before she went in.

* * *

Magpie was in the process of stealing jewels from the museum when she heard someone walk up behind her.

She grabbed one of her grenades, preparing to attack the guards approaching her, only to falter when she turned to see a glowing red bat symbol behind her.

"You must be Magpie." Batwoman said as she stepped out of the shadows.

"You're not Batman." Magpie said, though that didn't comfort her any less.

"That's the point." Batwoman said like it was obvious.

"You really think you can stop me?" Magpie asked.

"Yeah I do." Batwoman said as she tossed her batarang at Magpie, who just barely managed to dodge it as it returned to Batwoman's hand.

"And that's how it should work. Do yourself a favor and stand down. Are these shiny objects really worth getting into a fight with the Bat?" Batwoman asked.

"You're not the Bat. You're just someone pretending to be him and you couldn't even do it right." Magpie said as she tossed a grenade at Batwoman, who tossed her batarang again to intercept it and send both out the window, prompting an explosion outside.

"GCPD will be here any minute." Batwoman said with a grin.

"Too bad all they'll find is some poor schlub trying to be Batman." Magpie said as she fired a grappling hook and attempted to ride out the window, only for Batwoman to stop her with her own grappling hook, tying her up in the building as she saw civilians beginning to crowd.

"Sit tight." Batwoman said as she fired her grappling hook again and swung out of the hole in the window for all of Gotham to see.

The Bat was back.


	7. Chapter 7

**First off, happy new year to everyone. Second off, I just wanted to let everyone know that Fanfiction has finally added a Batwoman section to it's categories, so if you have any Batwoman stories, you can now add them to it. Just letting you guys know.**

* * *

_"Hey Gotham, this is Vesper Fairchild here. So last night Magpie was brought in, though not by the GCPD or the Crows. No instead Gotham was graced by a visit from none other than Batman. However, right now the question on my mind is whether or not this is real. Is Batman really back, or was it just some joker who got lucky last night. Some witnesses even report Batman having hair last night. Whatever is going on here, it appears that our crusader has taken the city by storm. So, the question remains, if Batman truly is back, where has he been and more importantly, why come back now?" _Kate heard Vesper Fairchild say over the radio.

"Wow, you've really managed to take Gotham by storm in just one night." Luke said as he entered her office.

"You know this means his enemies will come looking for him right?" Kate asked, knowing that Tommy Elliot was going to steal the railgun.

"Of course I do. You gonna let that scare you?" Luke asked.

"No, but I want you to increase security on all of Wayne Enterprises tech divisions and properties and make sure that any weapon that could be used to try to kill the Bat are moved to the Batcave for safe keeping." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"I'm on it. By the way, have you thought of your superhero name yet?" Luke asked.

"I was thinking Batwoman. I just need to figure out how to tell that to Gotham." Kate said.

"You'll figure it out." Luke said and Kate nodded as she reached into her back pocket.

"In the meantime, I have something else I need you to work on." Kate said.

"What?" Luke asked.

"After we turned in last night, before heading back to the penthouse, I made a pit stop." Kate said, since they hadn't had a chance to check out Wayne Manor yet.

"Where?" Luke asked as to his surprise, Kate pulled out a bag with bone fragments in it.

"The cemetery." Kate said.

"Oh god, which grave did you desecrate?" Luke asked, wondering why Kate would bring that up.

"My sister's. Beth's death has never really sat right with me, since it seemed to easy after months of searching to suddenly just find bone fragments. And given what I know about Bruce now, it makes even less sense that he never found them himself, considering he had access to the best tech on the planet, at least that wasn't alien tech." Kate said.

"You think that the results were faked." Luke realized and Kate nodded.

"So, I dug up the bone fragments and now I want you to run a DNA test on them. I need to confirm my theory is right." Kate said as Luke took the fragments.

"I'm on it. If you're right, I'll call Bruce, since even if he doesn't come back, he deserves to know the truth." Luke said and Kate nodded her agreement.

* * *

Jacob Kane was surprised when he saw his daughter enter his office.

"Kate, I wasn't expecting you come back here. Does this mean that you've changed your mind about joining the Crows?" Jacob asked.

"No dad, my position on that is the same. I'm here for a different reason." Kate said.

"So why are you here then?" Jacob asked.

"Dad, I had a specialist at Wayne Enterprises double check the DNA tests on the bone fragments that were found as Beth's." Kate said.

"Why would you do that?" Jacob asked as Kate handed him the results.

"Because I felt like something was wrong and I was right." Kate said.

"These results say that the bone fragments were from a deer." Jacob said.

"After that, I actually dug up the bones and have them tested and it was confirmed. They aren't Beth's bones or even human bones." Kate said.

"So someone faked Beth's death. But why." Jacob said, trying to wrap his head around this.

"Yeah, I don't know why or who, but we need to find out." Kate said and Jacob nodded.

"We will. And we'll find out what really happened to Beth as well. I'm not going to give up again. But it's been so long, the trail has gone cold. Not sure where to start." Jacob said.

"Maybe we should start at the last place we looked. That farm. Even if Beth isn't there, we might find clues." Kate said.

"We'll go tomorrow, I don't think either of us can just drop everything now, as much as I'd like to." Jacob said.

"I know. In the meantime, I'm going to have my R&D guy look into who faked these DNA results. I'll let you know if we find anything." Kate said and Jacob nodded in agreement as she turned to leave the office.

"And Kate." Jacob said.

"What?" Kate asked she turned to face him.

"Thank you for not saying I told you so." Jacob said.

"There are more important things to worry about right now than who was right. Now we need to focus on finding the missing member of our family." Kate said, since she'd let go of her anger at her father already and honestly, she was just relieved to have him out of prison and back in charge of the Crows where he belonged. And she was going to make sure she stayed there, even if she had to send Beth to Arkham to do it.

Anyways, after Kate left his office, Jacob called Sophie into it.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, I'm going out of town tomorrow and I want you to hold down the Crows until I get back." Jacob said.

"Can I ask why you're leaving sir? Especially so last minute?" Sophie asked.

"It's a personal matter, but I'm sure Kate can tell you more about it, since I'm still processing." Jacob said.

"Actually, Kate hasn't really talked to me since she came back to Gotham." Sophie said and Jacob chuckled.

"Well we both knew she'd be angry with you, but don't give up on that girl. I can tell that deep down she still cares about you Sophie, she's just still hurt and angry at you." Jacob said.

"Part of why I was hoping Kate would join the Crows is because I'd hoped that us working together would help her overcome her issues with me, since I still care about her, I turned down an engagement for her." Sophie said.

"But she doesn't know that does she. You need to talk to her Moore. Only way you and Kate will be able to even become friends again is if confront her." Jacob said.

"I did what you told me to do sir." Sophie said.

"I didn't tell you to do anything. I just gave you advice and I stand by it, but you're the one who chose to take it, knowing the consequences. But I also know that if you make an honest effort to talk to Kate, you can get her to come around. Eventually." Jacob said.

"I hope you're right." Sophie said as she walked out of the office.


	8. Chapter 8

Kate took in the sight of the Cartwright house once again and she felt nothing but anger at how much pain this place had caused her sister. It, or more accurately, it's residents, was responsible for Beth becoming Alice.

"We searched this place already Kate. Not sure what exactly we'll find." Jacob asked, since the house looked deserted.

"I know that, but dad, we have to look. Even if we don't find anything new, we need to be sure that we didn't miss anything." Kate said and Jacob nodded.

"Okay, let's get started." Jacob agreed as they head onto the property.

"Let's start with the basement." Kate said and Jacob nodded as they headed downstairs.

"There's nothing down here." Jacob said as they looked around.

"I thought the lead crow would know that not everything is as simple as it looks." Kate said as she managed to find the hidden door.

"A secret room." Jacob said.

"This has to be where Beth was being held." Kate said.

"We don't even know if she was here." Jacob said, trying to assuage his guilt.

"She was here dad. We were so close to getting her back that day, but we gave up." Kate said and Jacob knew she was right.

"But we won't this time. When I get back to Gotham, I'm going to start searching for the former owner of this place. We find him, we find out if he really held Beth here and if he did, we find out where she is now." Jacob said and Kate nodded.

"We'll find her Kate." Jacob said, seeing the nervous look on Kate's face.

"I'm not worried about whether or not we'll find her." Kate said.

"Then what are you worried about?" Jacob asked.

"What she'll be like when we do. There's a good chance that we won't like who we find." Kate said.

"I know. But right now, we need to focus on finding her. Once we do, then we can worry about what to do. Even if that means doing something neither of us want to do." Jacob said.

"I know." Kate said, since she was already planning on putting Alice in Arkham when she caught her, since even she may be her sister, Kate was not going to let her emotions blind her from her duty. Not again. Plus, the doctors at Arkham could help her. Though she already knew of one she needed to have fired immediately when she got back to Gotham.

Anyways, she was brought out of her thoughts when her phone rang and she saw it was Luke.

"I need to take this." Kate said and Jacob nodded.

"Luke, what is it?" Kate asked.

"I found out who paid to have the DNA tests faked." Luke said.

"Hold on a second, I'm gonna put you speaker so my dad can hear you." Kate said as she did that.

"What's going on?" Jacob asked.

"My friend Luke Fox is the guy I told you about. He found out who paid to fake the DNA test results." Kate said.

"Who did it?" Jacob asked immediately.

"It was your wife sir. From what I saw, every person who was involved in the cover up received a very generous payment from bank accounts registered to Catherine Hamilton." Luke said, shocking Jacob that his wife would do that.

"Are you sure about this Luke?" Kate asked, since she knew the impact this revelation would have on her family, but she knew it had to be done.

"Positive. I double checked to be sure." Luke said and Jacob sighed.

"Thank you Mr. Fox. Please keep this to yourself until I've had a chance to confront Catherine about this." Jacob said.

"Yes sir." Luke agreed as he hung up.

"I'm so sorry dad." Kate said.

"Why would she do it? She knew how important Beth is to me and how broken up we both were about her death. If it wasn't for her, we might've found Beth. She'd be home with us right now." Jacob said angrily.

"I think we've found everything we can from this place. Why don't we go home so you can get some answers from Catherine." Kate said and Jacob nodded.

* * *

"You're back." Catherine said happily when she saw her husband and stepdaughter enter the penthouse, but neither of them looked happy to see her.

"Yes I am and I know what you did." Jacob said.

"What do you mean?" Catherine asked nervously.

"We know that the bone fragments in Beth's grave came from a deer, we know that someone paid to have the results faked and we know that it was." Kate said.

"How could you do that. You know how much finding Beth meant to me, especially since there's a good chance that she's still alive. I broke the first rule of parenthood. I abandoned my child because of you. So tell me, why did you do it?" Jacob asked angrily.

"You and Kate were both in a downward spiral. You wouldn't go to work and Kate wouldn't go to school, neither of you would sleep or eat, you weren't living your lives. I thought that the only way for you two to move on was to let you believe that she was dead." Catherine said tearfully as Jacob just glared at her hatefully.

"I'm gonna stay in a hotel tonight." Jacob said as he walked out of the room.

"I'm guessing you feel the same way as your father?" Catherine asked.

"I'm pissed beyond belief about what you did, but I can understand why you did it." Kate said, shocking her.

"You do?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, I do. You were trying to help us move on with our lives. I mean, it doesn't make what you did any less wrong, but you did it for what you felt were the right reasons." Kate said, since while she was beyond furious at Catherine, the guilt of her death had forced Kate to look at things in a new way and she understood now why Catherine had done what she had done.

"Thank you Kate?" Catherine said.

"Don't thank me and don't think that just because I understand why you did it means that I forgive you for it. You've got to earn that." Kate said and Catherine nodded as Kate also walked out of the penthouse, leaving Catherine devastated at what had happened to her family and knew that she had no one to blame for it then herself.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, Kate entered her office to find Luke waiting for her.

"Is everything okay?" Kate asked.

"Just kind of surprised that you didn't go out again last night as the Bat." Luke said.

"It's Batwoman and I needed a night to absorb the fact that my stepmother had my sister's death faked." Kate said.

"That's fair." Luke agreed.

"Exactly. But anyways, even though I'm turning this place into a real estate firm, I still have authority over all Wayne Enterprise facilities and assets right?" Kate asked.

"Yeah why?" Luke asked.

"I want you to have all bat tech stored in any of them transferred to the Batcave until further notice, especially any weapons capable of penetrating the suit." Kate said.

"Will do. But I thought you'd like to know that we might have a new gang problem in Gotham." Luke said.

"Great, like Gotham doesn't have enough problems with gangs already." Kate said.

"Well this one is weird." Luke said.

"Weird how?" Kate asked.

"Reports of their movements last night pegged them all wearing rabbit masks." Luke said, causing Kate to freeze slightly.

"We need to find them. Tap into GCPD, the Crows, every surveillance system in Gotham, I want us hacked into all of it." Kate said.

"I'm on it, but why the sudden change of heart." Luke asked.

"Gotham has enough problems without adding a new group of crazy people to the mix. I want to get them dealt with quickly and the fastest way to do that is to find their leader." Kate said and Luke nodded in acceptance of that answer.

"I'll arrange for the tech transfer." Luke said.

"Good, I don't want anyone thinking they can steal weapons to use against Batwoman." Kate said and Luke nodded.

* * *

"Our smash and grab last night did not have the effect you thought it would. There was no sign of this elusive bat." one of the rabbits reported to a blonde haired woman.

"I told you Batman isn't back. It's just an imposter. We proceed with the plan tonight." the woman said.

"I'm just curious, why wait until now to make your move on Gotham? We've been ready for years?" another rabbit asked curiously.

The other rabbits looked at him like he was crazy for questioning her, but the woman just waved him off.

"It's alright, it's not like curiosity ever killed anyone." the woman said, right as she tossed a butterfly knife into his throat.

"Oh right, the cat." the woman said.

"He does have a point Alice." another rabbit dumbly said.

"You're not being paid to question me. Get back to work doing your job before you join your friend." Alice said, annoyed at the insubordination.

"You heard her." a new voice said and Alice turned to see a man wearing Crows gear walk in.

"Hello Dodgeson, so, did you get it?" Alice asked.

"There is a reason I infiltrated the Crows." Dodgeson said as he pulled out flash drive, which Alice quickly plugged into a computer.

"Perfect. This has everything I was hoping it would." Alice said with a grin.

"It wasn't easy to get without drawing suspicion. I was only able to since commander Kane was out yesterday. Moore was a bit more distracted, so I could pull this off." Dodgeson said.

"And I thank you for it. Hopefully you won't have to keep listening to Commander Kane much longer. Trust me, I feel your pain on that one." Alice said.

"It'll be worth it in the end if we can make them both pay." Dodgeson said.

"No one touches Kate. For all her faults, she's still my sister. No one messes with her but me." Alice insisted and Dodgeson nodded.

"I was just saying that after what they both did to you, they should pay." Dodgeson said.

"And they will. But only when and how I say." Alice said.

"Understood. Now, I'd better get back to the Crows before I'm missed." Dodgeson said and Alice nodded as she let him walk out of the building.


	10. Chapter 10

After going up to Wayne Manor, Kate had decided against moving into it, since it while it was nice, it felt too much like Bruce's home instead of her's and while she had no problems ransacking his office, his home was different. This was the place where her uncle Thomas had grown up as well. It just didn't feel right to her to change anything. Plus, after her trip to the Earth 99 version of the manor, she wasn't exactly eager to move into it.

Instead, since there was an empty floor above her office in Wayne Tower that was really only being used for storage, Kate decided to have it renovated into a penthouse apartment, since even before the multiverse had been destroyed and reborn, she'd practically lived in the tower, so this time, she didn't see why she shouldn't make herself comfortable this time around, plus it had the added benefit of living in the same building as her base, which was why she and Luke were planning on adding the new penthouse floor to the secret elevator once the penthouse was complete.

In the meantime, Luke had offered to let her crash on his couch, which she had agreed to, since honestly, she'd slept in much worse places her five years away.

* * *

Anyways, Kate was currently sitting in her office, very glad that the first thing she'd done when she'd started the renovations was have the floor above her soundproofed so she wouldn't have to deal with the noise from above that was coming from the construction crews, right as Mary entered her office, escorted by security.

"Ms. Kane, this woman claims she's related to you." one of the guards said.

"I am related to her, I'm her sister." Mary said and Kate nodded.

"It's fine, she's my stepsister, please send a memo down to the front desk that while she is welcome to see me, they need to send a message to me first so I can decide if now is a good time." Kate said and the security guards nodded as they let Mary go and walked out of the room.

"Wow, nice place." Mary said.

"Thanks, one of the perks of being Bruce Wayne's favorite cousin." Kate said as she showed Mary into her office.

"Also, I noticed a construction crew when I came in?" Mary asked.

"I'm renovating the floor above this one into an apartment." Kate explained.

"So you're literally going to living at work." Mary said.

"Very funny. But anyways, what brings you here?" Kate asked.

"My mom told me what happened and I'm so sorry." Mary said.

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong. Your mom's the one who crossed a line." Kate said.

"So, you don't hate me for it?" Mary asked.

"Of course not and neither does my dad. And honestly, while I am pissed at your mother and have made sure security knows not to allow her on these premises, I can understand why she did what she did. That's why I haven't tipped off the cops to the corruption she exploited." Kate said.

"So, this doesn't affect us?" Mary asked.

"Of course not. In fact, even though I know you're busy with your clinic and med school and your party girl routine, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to contribute to the interior design portion of Gotham Pride Real Estate." Kate said.

"Absolutely. I'm not working for you either, since I do still want to be a doctor." Mary said.

"I'm not asking you to. But we both know you have better taste than I do, so until I can hire some professional interior designers." Kate said.

"Absolutely." Mary said eagerly and Kate smiled.

"Great." Kate said.

"So, you going to the ceremony tonight? Still can't believe that the city opting to shut off the bat light tonight even after Batman returned." Mary said.

"No, I've had a change of heart on Batman. Though I'm guessing the reason they're turning it off is because the bat hasn't been seen since they took down Magpie. They might think it was just a fluke." Kate said and Mary nodded.

"Only reason I'm going is for the social media buzz." Mary said.

"Still, I'd better get back to work." Kate said and Mary nodded as she hugged Kate and Kate actually hugged her back.

"We'll hang out soon, I promise." Kate said.

"I'll hold you to that." Mary said with a smile as she headed towards the elevator and Kate nodded.

"I know." Kate said as Luke exited the bat cave.

"So, you're not going to the ceremony tonight?" Luke asked.

"Kate Kane isn't going. Batwoman is." Kate said with a smile and Luke grinned.


	11. Chapter 11

That night, gotham's elite were pouring into the building that they were holding the ceremony while practically the rest of the city were outside in protest, telling them to leave the light on.

"Do you hear that Kate. The city is chanting to leave the light on. They want you." Luke said over Kate's comms.

"I know. It's weird. I never thought I'd be the one wearing this symbol considering how much time I wasted hating it." Kate said.

"I think Bruce would be really proud that you're the one who put the symbol on." Luke said.

"I still think he should be the one wearing it, but then again, if he actually cared about Gotham, he wouldn't have left. Remind me again to kick his ass if he ever comes back." Kate said.

"Will do. On one condition." Luke said.

"Really, what's that?" Kate asked.

"You let me watch when you do it. Batwoman beats the crap out of Batman, that would go viral." Luke said and Kate laughed.

"On that we agree. Now, are you set on your end?" Kate asked.

"Ready and waiting. I'm also tapped into the CCTV footage so that I can post your debut on Youtube so that no one can deny your return. Plus I think the reactions on all those elite people's faces will be hilarious." Luke said.

"Kay, I'm going in." Kate said as she turned on her voice modulator before going shooting a grappling hook to swing to the roof of the building with ease.

* * *

When the ceremony began, Catherine walked up to the podium and began speaking.

"Citizens of Gotham, I know that several of you are skeptical about tonight, but I want to assure you all that Batman really is gone. Whoever it was that was running around looking like him, it was just a fluke. He's gone and it's time to retire this old tradition. The bat is not coming back." Catherine said, right as the lights went out.

"What's going on?" Jacob asked from where he was running security.

"No idea sir." Sophie said from her perch.

However, before the panic could set in, one of the bat signals was directed towards the rafters of the building, right as the lights came back on to reveal Batwoman standing there.

"Hey Gotham. Miss me?" Batwoman asked as she jumped down into the venue, right in front of Catherine.

"You were saying." Batwoman asked as she heard Luke laugh over her comms.

"Okay, that was too good." Luke said.

"You're not Batman?" Catherine said.

"That's the point. Batman is gone, that much you got right. But he's not the only bat in town. And I'm here to pick up where he left off. The Bat is back. And her name is Batwoman." Batwoman said as she turned to see every elitist in the room pointed their phones at her.

However, before anyone could say anything else, the monitor was scrambled as a familiar face appeared on it.

"Hello Gotham and hello to you especially Batwoman. And here I thought my mission would be boring. But a bat does make things more complicated. And more fun. I'm Alice and I'm here to prove to you all that not even the Bat can save you. The Crows can't save you. None of them are the heroes of this story. I am. It's time for order to turn into chaos. It's time for Gotham to fall to me." Alice said on the monitor, right as they heard shots fired in the rafters.

"Luke, where's that gunfire coming from?" Batwoman asked.

"Okay first off, can you please not use my real name when you're with people?" Luke asked.

"Focus." Batwoman said annoyed.

"Right sorry, but I'd suggest getting to your girl Sophie right now since she is getting overrun by those rabbits." Luke said.

"I'm on it." Batwoman said as she fired a grappling hook up to where she knew Sophie was stationed.

* * *

Sophie was being overwhelmed by the amount of rabbits that were converging on her, when suddenly, a grappling hook shot out of nowhere and Batwoman appeared.

"Don't even think about it." Batwoman growled, since she was not going to allow her demented twin to take Sophie hostage.

However, not to her surprise, the rabbits began firing at her, only for the bullets to bounce off her suit.

"I see why Superman likes being bulletproof." Batwoman said with a grin as she pulled out her batarang.

"You made sure to recalibrate these things to my arm length right?" Batwoman asked over her comms.

"Yep." Luke assured her.

"Good." Batwoman said as she tossed the batarang and smiled as she saw it take out all the rabbits.

"Are you okay?" Batwoman asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You know I had that covered right?" Sophie asked.

"Sure you did. Agent Moore." Batwoman said as she fired another grappling hook and swung out of the venue, since most of the other rabbits had retreated after seeing her kick the ass of their coworkers.


	12. Chapter 12

"Talk about a triumphant debut. I mean seriously Kate, you not only protected everyone at the ceremony, but you saved the second in command of the crows. I think you just earned some serious brownie points with the city." Luke said as Kate entered the Batcave.

"Maybe so, but I doubt I did anything to improve my standing with the Crows." Kate said.

"Hey, ask Bruce, the Crows hate anyone wearing that symbol, not just you. Well, more like your dad hates the symbol." Luke said.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Still can't believe I did to. I wasted so much time and energy hating Batman that I overlooked all the good he had done." Kate said.

"You can't undo the past Kate. But you can make a better future. Speaking of, you know your phone has been blowing up lately right?" Luke asked.

"Yep, messages from Sophie. Why do you think I left it here when I went out patrol. She can't seem to take a hint." Kate said.

"Kate, did it ever occur to you that this Sophie person wants to talk to you?" Luke asked.

"I have nothing left to say to her." Kate said.

"Okay, what am I missing?" Luke asked.

"Sophie's my ex." Kate said as she told him about what had happened at Point Rock.

"Wow, that's harsh." Luke said.

"Yeah, tell me about it. I could've dealt with it if she'd told me that she was going to take the deal and then talked it out with her personally later on, but she lied to my face and acted like what had meant everything to me meant nothing to her. I can't forgive her for it, no matter how hard I try." Kate said.

"Maybe that's because you don't know why she did what she did. Only you'll get closure is if you confront her about it." Luke said.

"I thought your Phd was tech?" Kate asked.

"It is, but that doesn't mean I can't read emotions." Luke said.

"I guess I'm going to have to talk to her eventually." Kate sighed.

"Besides, it'll give you something to do while I work here." Luke said.

"Right, any luck locating Alice through her video signal?" Kate asked.

"Nope. She must've had someone to bounce the signal off different locations. I might be able to track it back to the source, but by the time I do." Luke said.

"She'll have already gotten away." Kate said.

"Exactly." Luke said.

"Start the trace and then go home and get some rest. You're of no use to anyone if you're exhausted." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"And what are you going to do?" Luke asked.

"Get a very difficult conversation over with." Kate sighed as she picked up her phone and decided to rip the bandage off now.

"Good luck." Luke said.

"Thanks." Kate said as she walked out of the Batcave.

* * *

Kate was sitting in a bar, sipping a beer when she heard someone approach her.

"Kate." Sophie said as Kate turned to face her.

"You made it. I thought you'd chicken out. Again." Kate said and Sophie sighed.

"I deserve that." Sophie said.

"Only reason I'm here is so that you'd stop blowing up my phone. What do you want?" Kate asked.

"To explain what happened that day at Point Rock." Sophie said.

"You mean why you broke my heart? Made it impossible for me to trust people in that way again?" Kate asked.

"Kate, I have regretted what I did to you since the moment I did it." Sophie said.

"Then why did you do it?" Kate demanded.

"I was planning on going into that and doing exactly what we talked about, but then I got a second opinion. From your dad." Sophie said.

"So, my dad convinced you to lie." Kate said.

"Kate, I am not proud of what I did, but at the time I felt like it was my only option." Sophie said.

"And was it worth it. Was graduating from a school that didn't even want you there as yourself worth losing me?" Kate asked and Sophie sighed.

"Honestly, if I could go back and change one thing in my life, it would be what happened that day. I would've gotten on the back of your bike and left Point Rock in my dust." Sophie said.

"Why should I believe a word you say about that?" Kate asked, even though she knew that Sophie was telling the truth.

"I turned down an engagement for you." Sophie said, shocking Kate.

"What?" Kate asked.

"After you left Point Rock and my life, I tried to move on. I even tried dating this guy Tyler, but when he proposed to me, that was when I realized that the only person I wanted to spend my life with is you." Sophie said and Kate could tell that she meant every word.

"I'm not saying that all's forgiven." Kate said.

"But?" Sophie asked hopefully and Kate actually smiled at her.

"But maybe someday we'll get there. In the meantime, try not to burn me like that again." Kate said and Sophie laughed.

"Deal, now how about drinks?" Sophie asked.

"Of course, you're buying." Kate said.

"I owe you that much." Sophie agreed as she sat down next to her.

"So, I heard that the Bat saved you earlier tonight." Kate said.

"How'd you hear about that?" Sophie asked.

"You forget who my sister is?" Kate asked and Sophie chuckled.

"Fair enough. But I didn't need saving." Sophie said.

"Sure you didn't." Kate said with a smile.

"So, how do you feel about this Batwoman coming into Gotham?" Sophie asked.

"I've actually had a change of heart about Batman and I think that whoever it is that's taking his place might be what Gotham needs to turn things around." Kate said.

"Really, what caused the change of heart, since the last time I saw you, you hated Batman." Sophie asked.

"I realized that just because he had one bad day, I shouldn't discount all the good he's done. I mean, sure he failed to save my mom and sister, but that day alone he saved me and 2 dozen other kids. That has to count for something." Kate said.

"An interesting point of view." Sophie said.

"Let's agree to disagree on vigilantes for now." Kate said.

"I can live with that." Sophie agreed.

"Good." Kate said as she silently wondered if she'd ever be able to tell Sophie the truth about her being Batwoman. She guessed only time could tell.


	13. Chapter 13

Kate was working late in her office when she heard a gust of wind behind her and turned to see Supergirl, flying outside her window and then turned off the security cameras in her office.

"I was wondering when I'd be seeing you again." Kate said with a smile as she gestured for Kara to come in.

"Hey, well this is definitely better than the last time we first met." Kara said and Kate smiled.

"I'm going to do something I really do. Offer you a hug." Kate said with a smile as she and Kara hugged.

"Speaking of the first time we met, have you looked into John Deegan at all?" Kara asked.

"A bit, but so far I haven't been able to find any proof of what he's up to." Kate said.

"Great. I'm sure Barry and Oliver will be thrilled to hear that." Kara said.

"So, what brings you here? I know that it wasn't just to say hi." Kate said and Kara smiled.

"First off, remember my friend J'onn?" Kara asked.

"The martian, yeah, why?" Kate asked.

"Novu brought him here and his powers can be used to restore people's memories of the old world. I was wondering if you had anyone that you wanted to have the memories restored." Kara said.

"My friend Luke. He's my tech support and it would definitely help if he knew why I trust you and others so much." Kate said.

"I'll call J'onn, have him come out here and restore Luke's mind." Kara said.

"Should I be worried about you making a move on him? After all, you did say Luke was cute on Earth 99." Kate said.

"Oh god you are never going to let me live that down are you?" Kara groaned.

"Not likely." Kate said.

"But no, you will not have to worry about it, since I'm actually dating Ray in this universe." Kara said.

"Ray Palmer. Nice." Kate said.

"Yeah, he's a great guy and he's also the one who's making it possible for me to start my own newspaper, since I quit my job as Cat Grant's assistant in this universe." Kara said.

"I thought you were a reporter." Kate asked.

"I am, but apparently that got undone when we rebooted the universe, so I quit my job and now I'm starting my own national media firm. Which is another reason I'm here." Kara said.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"I was hoping I could get an exclusive with Batwoman. I mean every media outlet in the country is going to be trying to get it, so I thought I'd use my personal connections to try and get it first." Kara said.

"Well, you are the only reporter I know I can trust to get the story right. So yes, but we'll have to do it now." Kate said.

"Fine with me. But first, let me call J'onn to have him restore Luke's mind." Kara said and Kate nodded.

* * *

"Okay, so that brain dump was unpleasant." Luke said the next morning when he entered Kate's office.

"Hey, at least you got to meet a real life martian." Kate smirked.

"True. I can scratch that off my bucket list from both this universe and the old one." Luke said and Kate rolled her eyes.

"Well, while you slept that headache off, I did an interview with Kara Danvers." Kate said.

"Wait what?" Luke asked as Kate turned her computer for Luke to see.

"Kara's a friend and I wanted to help her expand her media brand, which is why, since I technically own Wayne Enterprises in Bruce's absence, I've invested in her blog, since she's trying to turn it into a real media firm. I figure this way we can get some free advertising out there for Gotham Pride Real Estate, along with Wayne Enterprise's other subsidiaries and who knows, maybe someday we'll even manage to rebuild the company." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"Wow, you actually sound like a real business woman. What's next, you're gonna start wearing suits to work?" Luke asked.

"Be careful or else your next job will be at tech village and I hear that's hell." Kate said.

"Consider me warned." Luke promised.

"Good. And now that you've remembered everything, maybe you could help me figure out how to keep certain events from repeating." Kate said.

"Well, for starters, you've got the advantage of knowing exactly what Alice is going to do before she does it. You now control the board." Luke said.

"Except I still don't think we know her endgame yet." Kate said.

"And now that we know what she's planning so far, we can get ahead of her so we never have to find out. Kate, you can keep your stepmother from dying, your father from going to prison and your stepsister from hating you. Hell, you may even be able to get through to Beth, since I know you still believe that she's still in there under Alice's madness." Luke said.

"I do, but my priority is keeping the city safe. Which means sending her to Arkham as soon as I can." Kate said.

"But couldn't that be what she wants, since isn't Mouse still locked up in there?" Luke reminded her.

"I'll ask my dad to have Alice put in solitary. The fewer people there are around her, the better. Who knows, maybe over time, we can rehabilitate her, but for now, she's a threat and she needs to be treated like one. The reason she made it as far as she did in her plans is because I went easy on her. I'm not making that mistake again. She can't get me to feel guilty anymore, since I've already faced that guilt." Kate said.

"You sure about this? I mean, she is your sister." Luke said.

"Maybe, but I have to put the rest of my family first." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"Fair enough." Luke said.


	14. Chapter 14

"Why'd you want me to meet you here?" Kate asked as she entered her dad's office before she noticed everything spread across his desk.

"What's this?" Kate asked.

"Everything I've managed to pull together on both Beth's whereabouts and the madman who owned the house she was being held in. A doctor named August Cartwright." Jacob said.

"Please tell me he's rotting in a cell at Arkham?" Kate asked.

"Not yet, but frankly, when we find him, I'm not sure if he ever will." Jacob said.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, though she had an idea.

"That bastard is the reason I lost one of my daughters. When I get my hands on him, I'm going to force him to tell me where Beth is, by means necessary and then I'm going to put a bullet in him." Jacob said.

"I thought Batman was the person you blamed for what happened to Beth." Kate said and Jacob sighed.

"I'm still no supporter of or this woman who's taken up his symbol, but I will admit that you were right. Batman did everything he could to save Beth and your mom and he did save you and 2 dozen other kids that day. It was just easier for me to blame him, since if I didn't, I'd have to blame myself for not doing more to find Beth." Jacob said as Kate placed her hand on her father's shoulder.

"I don't know how or when, but what I do know is that we're going to find Beth and we're going to bring her home." Kate said.

"But you're worried about something about that aren't you?" Jacob asked.

"I'm not worried about whether or not we'll find Beth. I'm worried about what will happen when we do." Kate said.

"You think it will go bad?" Jacob asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised. We don't know anything about what state she'll be in. But I may have an idea on how we can narrow down the search a bit." Kate said.

"I'm listening?" Jacob asked.

"Did Cartwright have any family? Kids?" Kate asked and Jacob could see where she was going with this.

"You think we can use his family to find him." Jacob said.

"Or maybe even better, Beth herself." Kate said.

"You would've made a great crow." Jacob said.

"I like my current job, since I don't really see myself taking orders very well." Kate said and Jacob chuckled.

"On that we agree. But let's go see what we can come up with on that lead." Jacob said as they headed down to the main command center for the crows.

"Kate, what are you doing here?" Sophie asked her when she saw her.

"Helping my dad out with something, I'll tell you the full story later." Kate said.

"I know about Beth. Your dad told me." Sophie said as Kate looked at her father, who nodded.

"In that case, we're running down a potential lead on the man who held Beth hostage. Normally I'd stay out of the Crow's way, but, this is personal." Kate said and Sophie nodded.

"So what are we looking for?" Sophie asked.

"Relatives of Dr. August Cartwright. He's the lunatic who held Beth hostage and while he's disappeared, we might be able to find a trail through his family." Kate said and Sophie nodded as one of the techs did some typing.

"And it looks like today is our lucky day, since Cartwright has a son, Jonathan and he's actually locked up in Arkham now." Jacob said.

"You think he'll talk?" Kate asked.

"I'll make sure he does. This is the first lead we've gotten that actually pans out, we need to take it." Jacob said.

"I wish I could go with you." Kate said as Jacob placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I promise I'll get him to talk and I'll tell you everything." Jacob promised.

"Thanks. I'll keep trying to see if I can find anything on my end." Kate said and Jacob nodded as she walked out and called Luke.

"My dad found the link between Beth and Mouse, he's going to question him now at Arkham. I want eyes on that conversation." Kate said.

"On it." Luke said.

"Great, I'll be back soon." Kate said as she hung up and walked out.


	15. Chapter 15

Jacob Kane was sitting in the passenger seat of a Crows van while Sophie drove to Arkham Asylum to interrogate the first real lead they had in Beth's case.

"It's too bad Kate couldn't be here for this." Sophie said.

"It's better she's not. That way you'll only have to worry about reigning in one Kane instead of both of us." Jacob said.

"Wow. I've never seen you this angry before sir." Sophie said.

"I shouldn't have just accepted that Beth was dead all those years ago. I should've known deep down that my child was alive and she needed me. A father is supposed to know those sorts of things, but I didn't. I failed her. And I will do whatever I have to make that right." Jacob said.

"I wish I could understand that." Sophie said and Jacob actually smiled.

"I'm sure you will. When you're raising my grandchildren with Kate." Jacob said.

"Wait what?" Sophie asked and Jacob chuckled at the look on her face.

"You think I haven't noticed how close you two are getting again?" Jacob asked.

"I'm working on regaining her trust. Though it isn't easy." Sophie said.

"Yeah, I know how stubborn she can be." Jacob said.

"It's not just that. It feels like she's keeping something from me now. Something big. Even if I manage to get back in her good books that way, I'm not sure if I can really start something with her while she's keeping something like that from me." Sophie said and Jacob nodded.

"Give her time, if she decides it's worth giving things with you another shot, she'll open up with you when she's ready." Jacob said and Sophie nodded, both of them unaware that their conversation had been overheard.

* * *

"Still not sure why you wanted me to hack into the camera aboard the car they were taking." Luke said.

"I wanted to hear what they were planning on interrogating Mouse. I was not expecting that conversation instead." Kate said as she thought about what Sophie had said.

"I didn't know you and Sophie were getting closer again?" Luke said.

"Even though we are, she's got a point. How can I honestly expect her to be in a committed relationship with me if I'm keeping such a big secret from her?" Kate said.

"You could always tell her. I'm not saying do it now, but I know you that still love Sophie and if you want things to work out between you two, you're going to have to tell her you're Batwoman. I mean seriously, ask any other superhero how well their relationships went when they were based on a lie?" Luke asked.

"I know I have to tell her eventually, since honestly, now that we have a chance at maybe salvaging something from our relationship, I can't throw it away." Kate said.

"I know. So anyways, what exactly is the plan? You really think Mouse knows where Cartwright is?" Luke asked and Kate scoffed.

"Please, there's a good chance Cartright is burning in a pit of hellfire right now considering Alice and Mouse. But he might give us a lead on Alice's whereabouts. That's why we're going to be watching the interrogation for any clues." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"I'm also going to be putting a request to have Mouse transferred to maximum security solitary after this interview. Need to make sure that not only can he not escape, but that once we catch Alice, that she can't talk to him either." Luke said.

"Good idea, though I'm pretty sure that Alice is getting the same treatment as the Joker at Arkham. I'm honestly tempted to have them locked up in a cell together and see which one of them survives the night." Kate said.

"I'd pay money to see that fight." Luke said.

"You and me both. We could probably make a fortune selling tickets to that fight." Kate said thoughtfully.

"Probably." Luke agreed.


	16. Chapter 16

Jacob Kane was sitting in the interrogation room of Arkham Asylum with Sophie as Jonathan Cartwright was led into the room.

"So, the great Commander Kane has finally come running to this little mouse for help." Mouse said.

"You knew I'd come here didn't you." Jacob said through gritted teeth.

"I knew that even the King of the Crows would come running when he finally was forced to face the truth that he failed and his daughter paid the price for it." Mouse said smugly as he watched Sophie have to restrain Jacob at those words.

"So you knew that Beth Kane was still alive and you never thought to tell anyone. Why not give that information to the Crows, maybe try to get your sentence shortened?" Sophie asked.

"Because Beth Kane is not really alive. Not anymore. She died the day she realized her dear old dad believed she had." Mouse said.

"If you know where my daughter is you better start talking before I tell them to turn the cameras off in here." Jacob said.

"Oh, but you've already seen her. In fact, I believe your guys are already looking for her." Mouse said.

"What are you talking about?" Jacob demanded.

"You already know, but you just don't want to admit it, because admitting would mean that you failed not only to protect your city, but even worse, your own family." Mouse said joyfully.

"Alice." Sophie realized.

"No, no, you're lying. Beth isn't a killer." Jacob said.

"You're right, Beth isn't a killer, but Alice is. Alice in Wonderland was always her favorite read. Honestly, it was her only read when my father held her captive because you gave up on her." Mouse said.

"Shut up." Jacob said.

"Oh, what's wrong, can't take the fact that gotham's newest problem is one that you created when you abandoned her?" Mouse asked smugly.

"Okay, if you know what's good for you, you'll shut up and only talk to answer our questions." Sophie said.

"What else could you possibly want to know?" Mouse asked.

"Where's your father? He evaded justice for too long." Sophie said.

"As far as I know, that abusive son of a bitch is dead. Died in an explosion. Before Alice or I could do anything to him." Mouse said.

"We're done here. Put him in solitary, zero contact with anyone outside his cell. Don't want him and Alice talking to each other when we put her in here." Jacob said and the guard nodded, none of them aware that the entire interrogation had been overheard.

* * *

"So, that went about as well as we expected." Luke said as he and Kate watched the interrogation.

"Not exactly." Kate said.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"I mean, we assumed that Alice and Mouse killed Cartwright for everything he did to them, but Mouse confessing that neither of them touched him, seems a little suspicious to me." Kate said.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"I mean, Cartwright had to know that he two psychopaths, both of whom he created, after him, it makes more sense to fake his death then keep looking over his shoulder all the time." Kate said.

"You think he's still alive." Luke said.

"We know that he's the one who taught Alice how to make those skin masks for Mouse, so yeah, there's a good chance of it. However, where to start looking for him, I don't know." Kate said.

"Why don't we do what we did with Beth? Start with Cartwright's last known location and then go from there." Luke said and Kate nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. But something tells me that'll be a lot harder to find." Kate said and Luke nodded.

"It will be, but we'll find him. But in the meantime, we should probably get to work on finding Alice." Luke said.

"And this time, I'm putting her in Arkham until I can figure out how to get Beth out." Kate said.

"You really think that you can get through to her?" Luke asked.

"Yeah I do. Despite how crazy she is, I think that Alice's actions are really that of someone who just wants acceptance. Specifically mine. Everything she did, I think in her own twisted way, Alice thinks that she's helping me. Hopefully once she's locked up, I can help her see that it's not the way to get my acceptance or my love. Right now, she's not my sister. She's a threat to my city and threats need to be dealt with accordingly." Kate said.

"I hope you're right. You remember what happened before?" Luke asked.

"Of course I do. That's why I'm going to put her in Arkham the first chance I get. Once she's there, then I let my concern for my sister show." Kate said and Luke nodded.


	17. AN

**I know I have a bad habit of doing this, but I am putting an end to the Multiverse Reborn series, since I am no longer as passionate about it as I was. I'll have a new version up soon and for now at least, I'll be leaving this one up on both Fanfiction and Wattpad. Hope you guys understand.**

**-Lauriverfanboy1**


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